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Wedge first appears in Star Wars during the Rebels' Death Star attack briefing. In this scene Wedge is portrayed by Colin Higgins and voiced by David Ankrum, who dubs the character throughout the film. Denis Lawson plays the character for the remaining scenes filmed in the X-wing cockpit.[1] Lawson also portrays Antilles in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In the former, Lawson's voice was dubbed over by an unidentified actor, while Lawson used his own voice in the latter, masking his natural Scottish accent with an imitation of an American accent. David Ankrum reprises his role as the voice of Wedge in Rogue One. Coincidentally, Denis Lawson is the maternal uncle of Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy.[2]

Wedge appears towards the end of Star Wars as "Red Two", an X-wing pilot and a member of Red Squadron. His considerable dogfighting prowess is shown in the Battle of Yavin when he saves Luke Skywalker by shooting down a TIE fighter that Luke had been unable to shake off. Along with Luke, he is one of only three X-Wing pilots to survive until the final attack run along the Death Star's trench. However, his X-wing is damaged, and he is forced to disengage before the Death Star is destroyed. He and Luke are the only two X-Wing pilots to survive the battle, along with a Y-wing and the Millennium Falcon.[3]

Wedge appears in The Empire Strikes Back as a member of the newly formed Rogue Squadron. He flies a snowspeeder against the Empire's AT-AT ground assault with Wes Janson as his harpoon gunner. Their snowspeeder inflicts the first casualty against the AT-AT attack group by firing a harpoon trailing a tow cable into one of the walker's legs and circling the walker several times, causing it to trip and fall and allowing Rebel forces to destroy the walker. After the battle, Wedge is seen and heard wishing Luke a safe trip.[4]

Wedge appears towards the end of Return of the Jedi as the leader of Red Squadron in the Battle of Endor. Along with Lando Calrissian, who pilots the Millennium Falcon with Nien Nunb, he leads the fighter attack on the second Death Star. His dogfighting prowess is shown again in this battle, as Wedge personally shoots down a number of Imperial TIE fighters, and appears to easily navigate the narrow and treacherous flight spaces inside the Death Star that lead to its core. When he and Lando reach the Death Star's core, Wedge destroys the power regulator on the core's north tower, while Lando destroys the core itself. He later appears at the victory celebration at the Ewok village on Endor.[5]

Wedge does not appear in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, Denis Lawson confirmed in a May 2014 interview that he was asked to reprise the role. Lawson declined, saying that it would have "bored [him]".[6]

Wedge is not seen on screen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but his voice is briefly heard over the intercom in the Rebel base on Yavin IV.[7][8] He was intentionally omitted from the film's climactic battle in order to avoid a continuity error with the first Star Wars film, which takes place immediately after Rogue One.[9]

In the television series Star Wars: Rebels, Wedge is voiced by Nathan Kress.[10] He first appeared in the episode The Antilles Extraction, the third episode of the third season. The episode establishes Wedge's canon backstory as an Imperial TIE fighter pilot who with the help of Sabine Wren defected from the Empire, and joined the Rebel Alliance. Wedge later appeared in the episode "Double Agent Droid," the nineteenth episode of the third season, and again in parts 1 and 2 of the third season finale Zero Hour, the twenty-first and twenty-second episodes, respectively.

Wedge is featured in the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy by Chuck Wendig, consisting of the novels Aftermath (2015), Life Debt (2016), and Empire's End (2017).[11][12][13] In this series, Wedge establishes a new unit called Phantom Squadron, which sees action on the planets Kashyyyk and Jakku. Following the Battle of Jakku, which ends the Galactic Civil War, Wedge relocates to Hosnian Prime, where he serves as a flight instructor.

Wedge makes a brief appearance in Claudia Gray's 2015 novel Star Wars: Lost Stars, in which he recruits Thane Kyrell, one of the novel's protagonists, into the Rebel Alliance.

In April 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded by Lucasfilm as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise.[14][15][16]

Star Wars Legends literature explains that Wedge's parents were killed when their starship-refueling depot exploded.[1] He piloted a freighter before joining the Rebel Alliance as a starfighter pilot.[1]